


The Battle of Snow (and Lions)

by TheStarChasr



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blue Lions Fluff, Blue Lions never back down, Byleth is emotional in this fic, Dimitri is always fretting over his wife, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Felix is competitive, Fluff, Married Couple, Married Life, Snowball Fight, Sort Of, The Blue Lions have fun, except maybe Ashe because hes a sweet boi, the boys get wrecked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 19:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20533556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStarChasr/pseuds/TheStarChasr
Summary: A little snowball fight never hurt anyone. And the Blue Lions never back down from a challenge.





	The Battle of Snow (and Lions)

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped in my head after watching a movie with some friends. The ships are based on my first BL playthrough and I've been hooked on them ever since.  
This work is not beta'd but I will come back and edit any errors. I had to write this in a hurry before homework piled up and prevented me from finishing it.  
I hope you all enjoy!

It is common knowledge across Fodlan that the Kingdom Capital for Fhirdiad experienced the most extreme temperatures at the height of winter. Some tales say that Blaiddyd himself was fond of the cold while others say he chose this location so that the city would be better protected by the elements. Either way, the current queen of Faerghus was tempted to Divine Pulse back 1000 years ago and give this elite leader a piece of her mind.

Byleth Eisner Blaiddyd spent the first twenty-three years of her life in relatively standard weather. Spring was cool, summer was hot, autumn was brisk, and winter was cold. Oh but not Fhirdiad, here it was cold, cold, cold, and _sometimes_ it would get to a mild temperature where all she needed was a light jacket. But nonetheless, it was always cold in Fhirdiad.

“I remember reading about a spell that incases you in a bubble of warmth. I could stop by the School of Sorcery and bring it to you the next time I visit.” Annette offered, observing the way Byleth tugged her furred clothes tighter around her.

“That is much appreciated but…” she sighed, watching a puff of air float in front of her “I want to get used to this weather! It bothers me how much you and the others are unnerved while here I am, shivering like an infant.”

The red-head beside her let out a giggle “We’re all natives, Byleth.” she paused “Well…except for Mercie she didn't come here till she was ten, which by the way,” she looked around “where is Mercie?”

Byleth had neglected to inform Annette that their friend was most likely running around the castle looking for the mint haired woman.

“Your Grace!” speak of the devil. The two women turned to see their blonde friend at the entrance of the garden, panting harshly and a stern look on her face “You shouldn’t be outside, I need to get you back up to your room and in front of the fireplace or else your sickness could return.” her voice was laced with worry as well as care.

“You were sick?” Annette asked.

“It was just a cold, nothing too major…”

In a flash, Mercedes made her way over to the bench where the girls sat and tugged lightly on Byleth’s arm “Try telling that to the fever you had for almost a week. I was sure the King was going to—”

“Mercedes, I’m fine.” the queen whined, “As you said, I’ve been couped up in my room for a week, now I need some fresh air.”

The blonde looked at her thoughtfully “Even so, if Dimitri were to find out…”

“You let me worry about Dimitri.” Byleth then scooted closer to Annette on the bench, patting the space next to her “Come sit with us? Chat for a bit?”

A warm smile graced the healer as she accepted the offer, chatting with the other girls about how much time has changed their circumstances. It was only two years ago that they were all caught up in an all-out war. Time seemed to pass by so much slower now compared to then. “So Mercie?” Annette spoke with a sly drawl “You and Dedue huh?”

Suddenly the blonde’s face was flushed “Oh. Yes. Dedue…”

But Byleth’s blanched expression was something else “You and Dedue?” she exclaimed “When—wha—”

But Mercedes looked away, her face growing red before she said softly “He asked me to marry him.”

This news was a total shock to Byleth, sure she had seen the tender glances Mercedes shared with the man from Duscur but she never thought their courtship was this far along “And?” Annette pressed.

“I accepted.”

Byleth gasped as Annette squealed and left to wrap her arms around Mercedes “I knew it!” she shouted gleefully “I told you at my wedding that yours would be next!” the memories of Annette’s happy day with Felix sparked in Byleth’s memory, but then the redhead inhaled sharply “Perhaps it was the wedding that gave Dedue the idea in the first place?”

Mercedes was about to interject but the sound of neighing and flapping wings alerted the three ladies to a pegasus descending upon them, it’s rider a blonde woman they knew quite well “How funny is it that I find you three in the same place?”

“Ingrid, Ingrid, Ingrid!” Annette chanted as she bounced over to the dismounting knight “Guess what?”

Ingrid sighed “Before I enter into your guessing game, I have a message for Her Grace: His Majesty has finished his meeting with the other house lords.” Byleth’s eye’s perked up at that news. “He is probably on his way to tell you himself but I wanted to see you before he stole you away.” now that made Byleth blush.

“I’m glad you did. We so rarely get to see each other.” the queen said, smiling at her former student “It won’t be long before you return to House Galatea anyway. We need to catch up before you go.” then a smile crept in her words “However, you really should play Annette’s guessing game.”

“Huh?”

Annette’s cheerfulness came back full force “Do you have a guess?”

Ingrid blanked “Um, well,” her eyes scanned Annette up and down before trailing over Byleth and Mercedes, gauging their faces “You’re with…child?”

All three women turned red, but none more than Annette who almost matched her hair, sputtering “No silly! Mercedes is getting married!”

Now it was Ingrid’s turn to look surprised “Mercedes?” then darted over to embrace the woman “Congratulations! I knew Dedue wouldn’t drag his feet.”

Wow, even Ingrid knew more about this relationship than Byelth, she was losing her touch.

“Which is more than could be said about Sylvain, am I right?” Annette mumbled behind them, her teasing tone not lost as Ingrid’s face lit up.

“Annette!”

“What? I’m right, aren’t I? He’s been eyeing you since the war and _still _hasn’t done anything. Very un-Sylvain of him.”

“He has _not _been _eyeing _me since the war!”

“Yes, he has! You just didn’t notice, which I know, none of us really _noticed_ I mean it was a war. But he was even eyeing you after the war! Come on Ingrid, he’s totally into you!”

Ingrid sighed “Annette please, can we drop this subject? Professor,” she now turned to Byleth “Could you please instruct your wayward student to stop teasing.”

“I’m not your professor anymore.” she lifted her hands in mock surrender “I’m just shocked that I too never noticed Sylvain eyeing you, even recently.”

Mercedes chuckled beside her “That’s because you and His Majesty have only been eyeing each other.” No one missed the way Byleth’s cheeks turned red, similar to Ingrid’s a few moments prior “Forgive me, was that too forward?” the healer asked.

Annette and Ingrid hid their laughter as Byleth shook her head slowly “No but…I guess you’re right.”

“Marriage does that to you, Byleth.” Annette snorted slightly.

But all merriment vanished when a strong breeze swept through the garden and a shiver racked through Byleth, who clutched her furs even closer “A sign from the goddess herself.” Mercedes voiced out, wrapping an arm around her friend “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

But Byleth protested “No, I want to stay a bit longer. I’ve been inside for so long.”

“You’ll be inside a lot longer after exposing yourself and returning to illness.” the healer said.

“Here Your Grace,” Ingrid said softly, kneeling and placing a well-rounded snowball in Byleth’s hands “This was a trick my father taught me to get used to the cold when I was a child. Hold the snowball in your hands until your fingers feel numb. Once they do, drop it and go back inside. Do this every day and it should take longer and longer until your fingers go numb.”

“Does it work?”

“I have no idea.” Ingrid smiled “But your hands are still warm. Mercedes,” she faced her friend “Let our queen stay out a little more. It wouldn't hurt.”

The healer in Mercedes wanted to quickly say no and usher the woman inside, but the friend inside her wanted to enjoy this moment a bit longer. She was about to relent but the sound of heavy footsteps from the palace entryway caught everyone’s attention.

“Byleth!” Dimitri’s deep voice cut through. Ingrid and Mercedes leaped to their feet and away from the bench as the king made his way over to his wife; Felix, Sylvain, Dedue, and Ashe not far behind.

“Oh wow, the class is all here and I didn’t even prepare a lesson for the day.” the Byleth quipped, happy to see everyone together and hoping to ease the tension in her husband’s face.

“This is no joking matter, beloved. You shouldn’t be outside, you’ve only just recovered enough to get out of bed.”

"I'm fine Dimitri, really. Some fresh air will do me some good."

But Dimitri observed his wife and did not like what he found. Her face was pale, her lips chattered slightly, and he could see her furs pulled tight around her for warmth "You've gotten plenty of fresh air. Now it's time to go back inside." While Dimitri’s concern was heartwarming, Byleth was just starting to feel the prickles of annoyance form after everyone fretting over her so much. Isn’t she supposed to be the Ashen Demon? The vessel of the goddess? Why was everyone treating her like a child? Her hands clenched the snowball in her hands as her mind finally tuned back into her husband’s fretting “—you'll only make yourself worse out here. Come on let’s—” but before he could finish, a snowball hit him in right in the chest.

All eyes went to the snow that slowly fell down Dimitri’s chest, once it hit the ground his gaze fell back to his wife, this time his brows furrowed “Byleth, there is no time for games. Please come with—” another snowball, but this time it hit him directly in the face.

“I don’t think she wants to go inside, Your Kingliness,” Sylvain observed as Felix snickered beside him.

Dimitri's stance turned cautious as Byleth stooped down and patted another snowball in her palms, ready to fire depending on the words he spoke “Beloved…” he said slowly, filled with as much affection given the situation “Why don’t you come inside and have some—” she launched again, however, this time Dimitri was ready and moved to the side, avoiding the snow attack. Felix was not so lucky.

What was aimed at her husband was now on the face of Felix Hugo Fraldarius, his eyes were wide and his expression unreadable (what with it being covered in snow) but his brows were furrowed, alight with the challenge. Dimitri continued to speak requests towards his wife, failing to notice Sylvain and Ashe whispering harshly to their friend who was kneeling, slowing creating ammunition. All was made known when a set of snowballs flew in the air, this time from behind Dimitri and towards the queen.

Byleth had not been paying attention to her husband at all, instead, she had always been watching Felix, knowing the competitive nature of her former student. She was ready for the attack, shooting to the left and dodging all three of the snowballs launched her way.

This time the onslaught of snow claimed Ingrid and Annette as its victims. Annette yelping as the frigidness of the snow seeped into her dress slightly while Ingrid’s eyes lit aflame at her childhood friend’s antics.

“Uh oh.” was all Sylvain said before an all-out war of snowballs begun. Annette furiously patting snowballs together while Ingrid and Byleth tossed them towards the men, who all—except Dedue—scrambled for cover behind the hedges of the garden.

“This is preposterous, Byleth! You need to be inside!” Dimitri called out while Ashe muttered nervously to the other men hastily preparing snowballs.

“Less talking more rolling,” Felix whispered harshly at the sniper. This time it was the girls’ turn to run for cover as Felix and Sylvain stood and launched snowballs.

From behind a hedge, Byleth propositioned her husband “I’ll make you a deal!” she peaked out, meeting the blue eye across the garden and buying time as Annette and Ingrid formed more snowballs “A friendly competition, one hit and you’re out. If we all go out," she gestured to the girls and herself "I’ll head inside and stay there for the remainder of the week or until Mercedes clears me. If we take you all out, I get to stay outside longer!”

“_And_ you have to treat us to sweet buns afterward!” Ingrid added.

“Deal!” “It’s on!” Dimitri and Sylvain shouted at once. The King knew any further reasoning would only drag this out longer. If she wanted a snowball fight, she'd get a snowball fight.

Annette huffed, forming her twentieth snowball before whispering “Come on Mercie, we can’t let them—Mercie?” her head shot up to the bench where they once sat, where Mercedes and Dedue now sat staring at one another, the woman laughing quietly while the man smiled warmly “Traitor!” Annette shouted.

Mercedes’ attention snapped to her friends “Um, Dedue and I will be the overseers.”

The man nodded next to her “Indeed, we will ensure it is a fair match.”

“Then the teams aren’t even!” Annette shouted.

“What’s the matter?” Felix’s confident tone called out “Afraid you can’t take us?”

Next to him, Ashe whispered “what are you doing?” harshly but Felix shushed him.

“Watch this,” he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth "Might as well admit defeat already, _darling_." he knew his mission was accomplished as he saw his wife’s face change, the overachiever in her coming out full force at the sound of his teasing drawl.

“Fine! If you needed a handicap you only had to say so!” Annette all but roared.

But Byleth snickered, poking her head out of from behind the hedge once more, unable to hold back her comment “Consider it a boon for His Majesty’s missing eye.”

Oh no.

Suddenly a snowball zoomed past Byleth’s face, almost grazing her ear, the perpetrator being the king who’s fire of competition had officially ignited “You know very well, my love…” he said rolling another snowball in his hands “that this eye impedes me in no way.”

Byleth’s smirk grew wider “Prove it.”

And with that, the Battle of Snow has begun.

Ingrid and Sylvain wasted no time, while the others were trash-talking they had been rolling and patting enough ammunition for their respective teams. Soon both sides launched attacks on one another, everyone dodging and diving out of the way to avoid the incoming waves of snowballs. Ingrid sought to gain the advantage by leaving the hedge and sneaking around to get a better shot at the men. Stealth was never her forte but she whispered to her teammates to keep on the barrage so that the others would not notice her absence.

But Sylvain noticed immediately, he just didn’t know _where _she was, his eyes scanned the garden back and forth for any sign of her, dodging snowballs the entire time “Your arms getting tired over there, Your Grace?” he shouted, trying to throw Ingrid off.

Byleth huffed from the other side “Not at all!”

Sylvain did not miss the smirk that grew on Dimitri’s face when the king shouted “Good! I would hate for all that talk to waste!”

“Oh something else is going to waste later!” the queen quipped.

Dimitri blinked “What does that even—”

“Your hard-earned coin when you buy us those sweet buns!” Ingrid shouted from her vantage point as she launched a large snowball that hit Sylvain in the face, shattering on impact and with enough force to knock the tall man on his back. Ingrid rose up to cheer but was met with a snowball to the face as well, its wielder—Felix—now smirking from his position.

“One down, two to go.” the young duke smiled, it grew wider when he noticed the shocked expression on his wife's face.

Instead of saying anything Annette and Byleth launched into another wave of attacks, forcing the men to huddle closer to the hedge to avoid being pelted. Dimitri cursed, his height putting him at a disadvantage as he could feel the snowballs zipping past him, barely making contact “We must do something.” he ordered.

In a rare instance of camaraderie, Felix met his eye and nodded before turning to Ashe. “Alright listen here sniper boy, I know that arm of yours has some power and that aim of yours is sharp yet you haven’t thrown a single snowball. Are you part of the team or not?”

Ashe blanched “I wanted no part of this.”

“Your king is asking for your assistance, Ashe.” Dimitri intervened, pulling rank on top of everything “Think of Her Grace, she should be inside resting but the longer this game goes, the more at risk of illness she is.”

Felix caught on to this guilt play “If this game drags out and she falls ill it will be on your head.”

The white-haired man could only shift his eyes from the two who stared at him intently, about to speak until a snowball met the back of Felix's head “Score!” Byleth shouted from across the garden.

A loud groan echoed as Felix stared at the two girls laughing behind the hedge. Dimitri took their reverie to his advantage and threw a large snowball towards them. Byleth noticed it right away and dodged but Annette was not so lucky, it clipped her right on the shoulder and her groan of equal volume brought a smile of satisfaction to her husband.

The two left their perspective sides and joined the others near the bench where Mercedes and Dedue sat. Byleth was now alone on her side, a stack of three snowballs against her husband and her ex-student, she had to make every shot count or else they might sneak up on her as she made more. And so to gain the advantage, she waited it out, dodging every snowball that Dimitri threw “You can’t hope to best me with sloppy attacks like that?” she said proudly “Looks like His Majesty needs to go back for some remedial lessons.”

Her teasing made his blood boil in the best way, a laugh bubbled inside of him as he looked to Ashe “we can do this, my friend.”

Ashe, however, remained motionless, not willing to throw a snowball at his former professor even if her husband was doing so. But eventually, everyone could see Dimitri growing annoyed at the constant dodging his wife was doing, his attacks were not even grazing her anymore, she was too fast, too spry.

“Ashe now would be a good time to join in.” Dimitri nudged.

But the sniper shook his head “I can’t, I’d feel too guilty if something happened.”

“Come on Ashe, just do it!” Sylvain called from the side but Ashe shook his head even faster.

Then Felix shouted “Ashe! You better throw that snowball or I’m forcing you to listen to a ghost story so scary you won’t be able to sleep for a week!”

At that Ashe reacted, snowball in hand he stood up, winded his arm, and threw the snowball so fast that no one could track it. What they did see was the impact it made on their queen’s face as she attempted to dodge it. It shattered and launched her backward—similar to the way Sylvain was taken out—but with more force. She landed on her back with a loud groan as air escaped her lungs and she began coughing from the snowy ground.

Dimitri’s eye went wide with panic as he launched himself over the hedge and raced towards his wife. Meanwhile, all color drained from Ashe’s face at the display before him, this is exactly what he _did not _want to happen. “Nice going sniper boy,” Felix grumbled beside him.

“Byleth,” Dimitri called kneeling beside her and gathering her in his arms, rubbing her shoulders to warm her. “Beloved are you alright?” his voice grew more worried at the sounds coming from her throat like a cough was stuck and she couldn’t get it out. He was about to shout for Mercedes but then a roar of laughter erupted from the woman in his arms. To everyone's shock, Byleth was now laughing fully and wholeheartedly. It was a deep belly laugh that shook her to her very bones, something Dimitri had never witness before.

“What a shot Ashe!” she hollered.

Dimitri couldn’t help himself, a small fit of laughter bubbled in his own throat as he shook his head lightly despite the smile on his lips “Come beloved, the victory is mine and you must get inside.”

“I know, I know.” the giggle filtering her voice as she leaned on her husband to stand up, further snuggling into him for warmth as he ushered her inside.

“Looks like someone now owes _me _some sweet buns,” Sylvain said melodically to the pegasus knight. Ingrid pouted but couldn’t stop the sound of her stomach rumbling, maybe sweet buns were not such a bad idea, even if she was paying for them.

Meanwhile, Annette stuck out her tongue at her husband “Still outlasted you.” she yelped when Felix grasped her around the waist and pulled her in close.

“Oh yeah, I’ll show you who outlasts who later,” he whispered in her ear, smirking at flushed the look on his wife’s face.

Dedue and Mercedes were already trailing behind the king and queen, making plans to brew tea and serve the royals dinner in their quarters that way the queen could warm up.

To Byleth however, everything seemed a blur. The adrenaline, the hit, and laughing so much had drained her of all energy as she slowly but surely sagged against her husbands welcoming warmth. Dimitri caught on immediately and scooped his wife up with a warm laugh, carrying her the rest of the way as she slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

She awoke in her warm bed, studying the room until she realized arms were encompassing her from behind, her husband’s gentle breathing puffed against her neck. It seems the activities outside drained him as well.

She turned in his grasp and placed a kiss against his nose, feeling her chest tighten when a small smile formed on his sleeping face. He unconsciously brought her in closer, mumbling "five more minutes dear" and she couldn't resist the snort of laughter. But she had no desire to wake Dimitri, just as she had no desire to rise from the bed as well. Instead, she snuggled into his chest further, sighing as she thought "_maybe the cold is not so bad after all. If only more days could be like this."_

**Author's Note:**

> It felt nice to write a fluffy fic for once, even if I had to throw a worried Dimitri in there just for kicks. And poor Ashe, such a sweet lamb. Dedue or Sylvain probably had to take him inside and assure him everything was okay.


End file.
